2 hurt in private plane crash at Pueblo Airport

By Nick Jurney
The Pueblo Chieftain

Published: July 27, 2014;Last modified: July 27, 2014 10:55PM

A small privately owned plane carrying two middle-age passengers and their dog crashed Sunday at the Pueblo Memorial Airport shortly before 9:30 a.m., after the engine apparently quit running and failed to restart upon approach to the airport.

KRDO News Channel 13, Eric Fink

One male and one female from Oklahoma were involved in the crash according to Joseph Pantaleo, an airport operations specialist who was first to respond after being notified of a plane that went down by an air traffic controller.

Pantaleo said upon his arrival, both passengers were up and walking around and told him that the engine had failed, causing the plane to crash about one mile west of the runway they were approaching. The woman had several lacerations and abrasions, and was being treated by airport rescue firefighters and the Pueblo Fire Department before being transported to a local hospital via ambulance, Pantaleo said.

Bill Nemick, assistant chief on duty with the Pueblo Fire Department, said the dog was being kept at PFD Station 1 while the passengers were at the hospital, and he didn’t believe their injuries to be life threatening.

Pantaleo said the airport emergency plan was immediately initiated as per protocol, and both the FAA and NTSB were notified of the incident and will respond to complete an investigation. The male is believed to have been piloting the plane.

The crash didn’t interfere with any incoming or outgoing flights and the airport was running as usual throughout the day.